Kaweewat Siwanartwong

Over the past few years, Bangkok foodies have welcomed a number of sushi restaurant openings offering a higher-end dining experience, omakase, which can be simply translated as "leave it all to the chef" meaning that your meal will be prepared by the trained sushi master according to the freshest catch of the day.  Don't know what to want to eat, no problem! Omakase has taken Thai food lovers by storm as plenty of omakase restaurants has opened in Bangkok in the last few years. We gather you the best omakase restaurants in town you shouldn't miss. Love Japanese cuisine? Check out more restaurants in Bangkok here! 

November usually brings Bangkok a little relief from the heat, just as its events calendar fills up. Bangkok Art Biennale brings more than 200 works by 72 artists and collectives to 11 venues, from Wat Arun’s riverside grounds to the malls around Siam, until February 28 2027. The first Time Out Bangkok Nightlife Awards turns Hua Lamphong Railway Station into a party on November 18, while My Chemical Romance finally make their Thailand debut at IMPACT Challenger Hall. Over in the Old Town, the Golden Mount temple fair returns to Wat Saket from November 17. Look out for moo ping skewers, khanom krok straight off the pan and balloon-dart stalls with teddies bigger than your nephew. Check the temple’s final fair dates before planning a late-month visit. Bookworms have the Neilson Hays Library sale and Tsutaya Bookstore, whose first Thai bookshop is now scheduled to open on November 14 at The Storeys, One Bangkok, with more than 50,000 books and magazines across two floors. Still undecided? Browse our guides to Bangkok’s best bars, restaurants, parks and galleries, or start ticking off the city’s essential things to do. Planning ahead? Browse our monthly events guide and the latest Bangkok things to do. Subscribe to our free newsletter for the best of Bangkok, straight to your inbox.

We’ve reached the final week of October, which means Bangkok’s Halloween weekend is here, and October 31 falls on a Saturday this year. Expect costume parties, rooftop DJs, horror films and plenty of excuses to stay out late. Here’s what deserves a spot on your calendar. Start at Sip Thai by SongCraft, where 30-plus booths at centralwOrld pour craft beer, cider and spirits. It’s free and indoors, so rain won’t smudge your face paint. On October 30, Sala Saneha throws a Thai-ghost-themed night, so leave the witch hat at home. For a proper Halloween party, Go Grrrls’ HALLOQUEEN brings queer Ballroom battles, live sets across two rooms and a best-dressed contest with a B5,000 prize, so make an effort with your look. Up at Tichuca, KHAO BIT spins Thai remixes, dance music and house, and SIANGYOO steps behind the decks for the first time. Not a dancer? Listen Room at Siwilai Radical Club pairs guest-curated playlists with lighting by Human Spectrum. Cinephiles can catch Alien and The Lighthouse at The Corner House Bangkok, where House of Films: Halloween Edition screens scary favourites from October 30 to November 1. Want a gig in fancy dress? One Oktoberfest at One Bangkok runs until November 1, with LANDOKMAI and Phum Viphurit on Halloween. Get out there! Still undecided? Browse our guides to Bangkok’s best bars, restaurants, parks and galleries, or start ticking off the city’s essential things to do. Planning ahead? Map out the rest of October with our monthly events guide and

Planning Halloween already? It maybe a little early, but the nights are drawing in, the air feels cooler, and before long, the season’s most mischievous celebration will be upon us. Thailand may not have the same obsession with ghosts and ghouls as other countries, but Bangkok knows how to throw a night worth remembering.  Soon enough, downtown Bangkok will shift into a carnival of costumes, flickering lights and characters that seem plucked from another world. Streets, bars, galleries and rooftops will offer everything from quirky pop-ups to immersive experiences, leaving little excuse not to get involved. It’s never too early to start plotting your own night of mischief, assembling your coven, or deciding which haunted corners of the city you’ll explore. Looking for something strange, eerie or delightfully absurd? Time Out Bangkok has your back. While we might not carry proton packs, we know where the best thrills are hiding. From haunted bars and rooftop rituals to costume competitions and spooky markets, our ever-growing guide will keep you informed and entertained. By the time the last lanterns flicker and the city’s ghosts retreat, you’ll know that Bangkok’s Halloween is not just a night on the calendar – it’s a festival of mischief, style and just enough fright to make it unforgettable.

Bangkok hides some of its best galleries down side streets and up quiet staircases, right in the thick of its busiest neighbourhoods. This October, follow rain-soaked streets through Alain Callebaut’s photographs at Old Town Gallery, step into Korakrit Arunanondchai’s Love After Death at Bangkok CityCity Gallery in Sathorn or watch painters race the clock at Art Battle Bangkok at The Fig Lobby in Khlong Toei. There’s plenty to linger over – and, in the galleries, perhaps another visitor’s tote bag to dodge. Memory runs through Nostalgia Surfer at KICHgallery, where airbrush paintings revisit old images, sounds, colours and places, and A Place Within a Place at L.O.F Gallery in Samyan, where familiar surroundings take on different meanings. At River City Bangkok, Munins explores emotion, memory and decision-making in STILL : ON, while Kitti Narod’s A Place We Share fills phone-shaped canvases with everyday life and ideas of equality at Tang Contemporary Art. Over at 6060 Arts Space, the lotus becomes a symbol of persistence through difficult circumstances.  Pop Mart marks 20 years of Molly, Kenny Wong's pouting art toy, at Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park. The semi-outdoor display pairs early sketches and original works with Thai craftspeople’s interpretations in Benjarong ceramics and lacquerwork. Check the visiting arrangements , then walk over to Banthat Thong for noodles. For a full crawl or a gallery stop between showers, pick a neighbourhood, pack an umbrella and

Bangkok is a city of contrasts.  Glass towers stand tall next to temples, old mansions and shophouses that have stood for a century or more cosy up to modern cafes and stores. Look past the traffic (and the malls) and you'll find a lot of history still standing.  Much of Bangkok’s oldest buildings are predictably found in neighbourhoods like Silom, Bang Rak and Rattanakosin Island, where the old and the new sit side by side on the same street. Similarly, a lot of them are easy to miss. Some of the best buildings hide down a narrow lane or behind a market, while others sit right on a busy corner or in a green garden of their own, waiting for you to notice them. What's good is how many are still in use. Plenty have been saved from the wrecking ball and given a second life as cafés, bars, galleries, hotels and libraries, with their original bones left on show. A former printing house is now an art space, a sawmill has become a theatre and a machine shop pours coffee. The work behind each one keeps a bit of the city's past alive rather than clearing it away, something of a trend right now and we can’t deny we’re all for it. Below we've picked our favourites in and around the city. Here are 17 old buildings that have been revived and are worth a visit. When in doubt, turn to our guides to Bangkok’s best bars, restaurants, parks, galleries and interviews, or work through our bucket list of the best things to do in Bangkok. Subscribe to our free newsletter for the best of Bangkok, s

Say Song Wat and you might picture old shophouses, Chinese lettering above the shutters and sacks of dried chillies by the door. They’re all still here. Along its roughly 1.2km stretch beside the Chao Phraya, spice wholesalers now trade alongside Song Wat Coffee Roasters, Thai restaurant e-ga, independent shops and bars with river views. Come hungry, but keep your eyes off your phone between stops. Belgian artist ROA’s upside-down elephants cover a car-park wall, PLAY art house occupies a former shoe warehouse and smaller artworks turn up in alleys and shop windows. Made in Song Wat, a local collective that began with 10 businesses in 2022, has since grown to more than 60 members.  The road’s name refers to King Rama V drawing its route on a map. That history is part of the pleasure of walking here: Song Wat still works as a trading street, even as its old buildings find new occupants. Photograph: rongklannuea What's Song Wat known for? Street art helped draw visitors here before the café queues arrived. Now galleries sit among wholesalers, design pieces appear in unexpected shops and restored shophouses hold restaurants, bakeries and bars. You can spend an afternoon photographing the walls and grazing your way down the road, then stay for dinner and a drink. Photograph: rongklannuea Why do the locals love it? Song Wat rewards a slow look. Family-run businesses still sell chillies, star anise and coffee beans from open-fronted shops, while murals cover peeling walls and

This list is from 2024. Read our 2025 ranking or check out our latest ranking for 2026 here. In 2024, what exactly makes a neighbourhood cool? Craft breweries, natty wine bars and street art are well and good, but the world’s best, most exciting and downright fun neighbourhoods are much more than identikit ‘hipster hubs’. They’re places that reflect the very best of their cities – its culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drink – all condensed in one vibey, walkable district. To create our annual ranking, we went straight to the experts – our global team of on-the-ground writers and editors – and asked them what the coolest neighbourhood in their city is right now, and why. Then we narrowed down the selection and ranked the list using the insight and expertise of Time Out’s global editors, who vetted each neighbourhood against criteria including food, drink, arts, culture, street life, community and one-of-a-kind local flavour. The result? A list that celebrates the most unique and exciting pockets of our cities – and all their quirks. Yes, you’ll find some of those international hallmarks of ‘cool’. But in every neighbourhood on this list there’s something you won’t find anywhere else. Ever been to a photography museum that moonlights as a jazz club? Or a brewery with a library of Russian literature? How about a festival dedicated to fluff? When communities fiercely support and rally around their local businesses, even the most eccentric ideas can become a reality.

We keep this article updated regularly to make sure everything stays accurate and current, pop back anytime for the latest. So 2025 was pretty huge for live music in Bangkok, wasn't it? We had Doja Cat, BLACKPINK, TV Girl, The Smashing Pumpkins and Tyler, The Creator all gracing stages across the city. Not a bad lineup. The good news? 2026 is looking just as packed. Alright, Oasis might not be on the cards just yet, but there's still a serious roster of artists lined up to play Bangkok stadiums and arenas over the coming months. And rumour has it even more big names are yet to announce tours like BTS. Givēon, Central Cee, Taeyong, Kraftwerk... the list goes on. Whether you're into R&B, grime, K-pop or electronic legends, there's something coming your way. Here are the best major gigs heading to the capital this year.  

According to psychology (the hangout edition), that amber-coloured glass with its soft, smooth foam has the power to soothe exhaustion after a hard week, revive you from that post-project slump and give your body a refreshing boost of energy. And in Bangkok, where the working day rarely finishes on time, beer drinking is now a long way from a casual afterthought. These days it comes with good music, sharp interiors and a proper crowd. You step off a hot, busy street, the door swings shut, the air-con hits and someone behind the bar is already pouring your first of the night. So whether you know your DDH IPA from your vanilla porter or simply want a cold pint, decent music and somewhere comfortable to spend the evening, these are 20 of the best beer bars in Bangkok. Also worth bookmarking: our guides to Bangkok’s best bars, restaurants, parks and galleries, plus the best things to do in Bangkok.Map out the rest of this month with our guide to what’s on, and keep an eye on our picks of Bangkok’s best things to do. Subscribe to our free newsletter for the best of Bangkok, straight to your inbox.

News of club closures and sober youngsters might have you thinking that nightlife is dead. We’re here to tell you – with proof! – that you couldn’t be further from the truth.  The way we go out might be different, but people are by no means staying in. Cities are adapting to our changing nightlife habits: as summers get hotter, street parties and rooftop raves are bigger than ever. Rather than heading to one or two big-name venues, locals are flocking to new nightlife districts for an evening of bar-hopping and curbside drinking. And, trust us, the nightclub isn’t going anywhere – in fact, communities and local governments have successfully rallied to save historic nightlife venues (in Berlin’s case, they’ve even managed to grant techno UNESCO-listed status). So, we’re here to celebrate going out in the city. From Bangkok to Berlin, Medellin to Mexico City, Time Out’s Best Cities for Nightlife with Intrepid Travel is the ultimate guide to today’s after-hours capitals. To curate the ranking, we went straight to the people who know their city best – the locals – and asked them to tell us all about the nightlife scene in their hometown right now. We asked them about everything from clubbing to cocktail bars, how affordable it is to go out at night, the overall quality of nightlife in their city, how easy it is to find community, and how safe, exciting, welcoming and diverse their city is. After crunching all that data, a panel of nightlife experts – Time Out’s city editors, cult

You might never have met Ray MacDonald, but if you grew up in Thailand in the 1990s he was part of your week all the same, on the telly after school, up on the big screen with your mates, or talking you through a train ride halfway across the map. Ray, one of the most recognisable faces of a generation of Thai youth, died on August 19. His career runs close to three decades and takes in film, television and the travel programmes that sent a lot of us reaching for an atlas. Plenty of people first know him from the show Teen Talk; others picture him in O-Negative, Dear Galileo or Phobia 2. And for a whole crowd of viewers he plays a travelling companion they never actually meet, someone whose journeys make the wider world seem that bit closer from the sofa. So his story runs richer than the word 'actor' lets on. Over the years he turns up as a shy young man, a hitman, a monk, a graphic designer and a traveller, each part catching a particular moment in his life and the times around it. Here are 14 of his screen roles, from his first day on set to the work that still brings him to mind.   Fun Bar Karaoke Photograph: Fun Bar Karaoke, 2540Ray Macdonal Ray's first screen appearance comes in Pen-ek Ratanaruang's debut feature, and it wins him Best Actor at the Suphannahong National Film Awards straight out of the gate. He plays Noi, a shy convenience-store worker who turns hitman the moment he falls asleep. The character is odd, cheeky and quietly lonely, and you can already hear

Dinner before dancing gets a new option at Sing Sing Theater, where Steam Room launches on October 28 with Hong Kong’s Man Mo Dim Sum. Chef Nicolas Elalouf serves a Bangkok-specific menu, from French Peking Duck dumplings to Pla Manao with Songkhla Lake seabass, lime, chilli and garlic. There’s also soft-shell crab wonton and a vegetarian ratatouille-inspired bite. Spanish DJ and producer Henry Saiz takes over the decks after dinner, so you can swap bamboo baskets for the dancefloor without changing venues. October 28, from 8pm. Tickets include 10 dim sum pieces and two cocktails via here. Regular service begins November 4.

Horses, hounds and a spot of bargain hunting make an unusual day out at Princess’s Cup Thailand. Equestrian competitions take over the 2nd Cavalry Division, King’s Guard, at Sanam Pao, while the announced Supreme Dog Show 2026 brings canine contenders competing for a royal trophy. Between events, browse lifestyle stalls and find something to eat or drink. You don’t need to know your dressage from your show jumping to enjoy the occasion.  November 23-29. Free admission. 2nd Cavalry Division, King’s Guard, near BTS Sanam Pao. The Weekend & Lifestyle market is separately advertised for November 27-29, 1pm-10pm; check the organiser’s schedule for competition and dog-show times.

Fancy a film night with a Latin American twist? Latin American Film Week brings screen stories from nine countries to The Bangkok Club, with free admission and English subtitles. Organised by the embassies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Peru, the programme spans different genres and includes Guatemala’s documentary miniseries True Guatemala, screening on November 19 at 7pm. Participating countries also share food and cultural offerings. Seats are limited, so choose your screening and register in advance. November 16-20. Free admission; screening times vary. The Bangkok Club. Register online.

Fancy a film night with a Latin American twist? Latin American Film Week brings screen stories from nine countries to The Bangkok Club, with free admission and English subtitles. Organised by the embassies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Peru, the programme spans different genres and includes Guatemala’s documentary miniseries True Guatemala, screening on November 19 at 7pm. Participating countries also share food and cultural offerings. Seats are limited, so choose your screening and register in advance. November 16-20. Free admission; screening times vary. The Bangkok Club. Register online.

Bangkok’s theatre scene gets its annual get-together as the Bangkok Theatre Festival returns for its 24th edition. The programme brings emerging artists and established performers together for 103 performances, with  theatre, movement and music sharing the bill with puppetry, likay and contemporary experiments.Shows take place at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre and TK Park at centralwOrld, as well as T. Namcharoen Playhouse in Bang Pho and Tai Siam at Siam Square. It’s a chance to catch work that doesn’t always reach the city’s mainstream stages. November 14-29. Ticket prices and showtimes vary, with selected free performances. Check the festival programme, including its ‘Foreigner Friendly’ labels, before booking. 

Bangkok Art Biennale returns for its fifth edition with Angels & Mara, pairing Bangkok’s City of Angels identity with Mara, the Buddhist figure associated with temptation, desire and obstacles to enlightenment. More than 200 works by 72 artists and collectives representing 29 nationalities explore technology, spirituality and identity, among other contradictions of modern life. The 11 main venues range from Wat Arun and Wat Pho to BACC, One Bangkok and the malls around Siam. BAB Plus and BAB Fringe extend the programme to Thonburi, Samut Prakan and Suphan Buri. Use the organiser’s venue guide to plot a manageable route.  October 29 2026-February 28 2027. Free biennale admission; individual venue admission rules and hours apply. BACC’s ninth-floor display finishes on November 25, while its seventh- and eighth-floor displays continue until February 28.

Bangkok has another reason to stay out late. After being named the World’s Best City for Nightlife 2026 by Time Out, the Thai capital gets its own celebration with the inaugural Time Out Bangkok Nightlife Awards 2026, taking over the historic Hua Lamphong Railway Station for a night dedicated to the people and places that keep the city going after dark. The awards cover 30 categories, from cocktail bars, rooftop spots and underground clubs to listening bars, live music venues and late-night restaurants. The people behind the scenes get their share of recognition, too, with awards for bartenders, DJs and bands. Rather than handing out trophies based on reputation alone, the awards use a panel of experts and nightlife enthusiasts who conduct anonymous, on-the-ground reviews. It’s a chance to recognise the places worth staying up for, whether that means a tiny bar with a carefully chosen playlist or a dance floor that’s still busy in the early hours. And this isn’t a ceremony reserved for industry insiders. The public can buy tickets and join the party at Hua Lamphong, where the station’s historic halls will host DJ sets, live music and surprise performances alongside the award announcements. Complimentary drinks and canapés are also on the menu, so you can catch up with Bangkok’s nightlife crowd between sets. Consider it a good excuse to dress up, meet the people behind your favourite spots and find a few new places to visit after the awards. Bangkok’s nights are getting their

Central Department Store celebrates its 79th anniversary with Central Anniversary 2026: Where Wonders Bloom, turning Floors G to 5 into six floral-themed worlds, with art, workshops, food and a few familiar faces along the way. Start on Floor G with white blooms before heading to Floor 1’s ballet-inspired floral displays, Floor 2’s whimsical meadow featuring 31 adorable sheep, Floor 3’s tree-root installation, Floor 4’s hanging floral art and Floor 5’s colourful meadow featuring playful dog sculptures for families. Japanese contemporary artist Yuta Okuda also presents an art-and-flower installation  at the floral tunnel connecting Central Chidlom and Central Embassy. Actress duo Namtan Tipnaree and Film Rachanun showcase their creativity through a special Live Stencil Art Performance, followed by a charity art auction supporting the Kamlangjai Project Fund. Billkin takes the stage for a mini concert, while DJs ROOTS and PATRA B keep the music going on October 29. Hungry? Ten restaurants, including Weng, Shichi, Mozza by Cocotte and Greyhound, serve special floral-inspired menus. Stop by Lofter on Floor 6 for the Blossom Bedazzling DIY activity and a photo at the Blooming Wall. There’s also a Flower Stamp Rally across Central Chidlom and Central Embassy. Collect all eight stamps for a chance to receive a B100 Dining Cash Coupon, limited to 100 redemptions, subject to campaign terms and conditions. Check the campaign details before visiting for activity schedules and redemption

Thai temple-fair energy goes sky-high at Khao Bit , with Thai remixes, dance tracks and house across two stages and two sound systems at Tichuca. SIANGYOO makes his first appearance behind the venue’s DJ booth, joining local selectors amid Thai visuals and colourful lighting. Bring your friends for a bit of muan joy. The knees, apparently, have plans of their own. November 1. Advance ticket B1,000 or B1,200 at the door, including one welcome drink. Tickets via Ticketmelon. Tichuca Rooftop Bar, T-One Building, Sukhumvit Soi 40. Doors 5pm; the latest detailed listing runs to 1.30am.

Gothic glamour meets queer ballroom culture at Go Grrrls’ Goth Halloqueen. Room one hosts the Goth Battle, led by Azxula and Thailand’s ballroom community, with OTA Vogue, a free-movement Goth Off and a costume contest offering a B5,000 for the best look. The Vogue and Goth Off winners each receive B1,000. In room two, Club Slayer brings ActionTha live alongside Digital Cherub, Sriracha Czaddy and Peachji, plus Morrigan Xaster’s ‘Dead Dance from the Grave’ performance. Cleo P. and Dookie handle the afterparty. October 31. Early bird B500, online B600 or B700 at the door; advance tiers subject to availability. All include one drink. Tickets via Ticketmelon. FV39, Sukhumvit Soi 39. 9pm-2am.

GalileOasis brings its monthly market back for a spooky-season with The Hidden Alley. Stalls fill the entrance alley and courtyard, exploring belief, faith and the objects people turn to for spiritual comfort. Expect contemporary amulets, modern spiritual accessories, mysterious artworks and collectibles with a dark fantasy twist. Come looking for an unusual piece to take home, or simply browse the courtyard and see which curious objects catch your eye. October 31-November 1. Free entry. GalileOasis. 10am-6pm; check the venue’s latest market announcement before travelling.

Norwegian DJs Telephones and DJ Fett Burger share the decks at Parity, bringing a run of back-to-back sets to Bangkok. Telephones is familiar on the Asian circuit; the promoter bills this as Fett Burger’s Bangkok debut. The Berlin-based DJ, graphic designer and artist also runs the long-established Trushmix series. Brent Burns joins the line-up at Bar Temp., with house and Balearic sounds advertised for a six-hour night. Book early if this pairing is your sort of Halloween warm-up. October 30. Advance tiers B400-500 via Megatix, subject to availability; B600 at the door. Bar Temp. 9pm-3am.

If you’re already planning New Year’s Eve, you know how it usually goes. Grab prices surge after 10pm, the crowds around Ratchaprasong slow to a shuffle and the good rooftop tables go early. Sindhorn Midtown Hotel Bangkok, Vignette Collection by IHG offers an easier plan. It sits on Soi Langsuan, a short walk from Chit Lom BTS. On December 31, all four of its bars and restaurants go red and gold, and each one sees out 2026 in its own way. Most packages include free-flow sparkling wine, wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks. Prices are net, so the number you see is the number you pay. Photograph:Sindhorn Midtown Hotel BangkokBangkok ANJU Korean Rooftop Restaurant & Bar The loudest night of the four happens on the roof. ANJU’s kitchen sends out a hansang, the Korean custom of covering a table with shared plates. Expect yellowtail and sea trumpet wraps topped with avruga caviar, and smoked beef short rib on potato pancake. Bartenders put on a soju bomb show, and staff set up ddakji, the paper tile-slapping game from the first episode of Squid Game. You can also play cham cham cham, where you try not to turn your head the way your opponent points. DJs play from 9pm-2am. Entry alone is B3,099 per person. Tables for up to five with the platter cost B31,490-35,490, and the priciest adds two bottles of Champagne. Photograph: Sindhorn Midtown Hotel BangkokBangkok Veha Veha suits a slower evening. The buffet starts at 6pm with a carving station for beef tenderloin wellington, Austral

Eight seats. One pale wooden counter. A pot of rice cooked fresh for each sitting. Sushi Kuuya makes little noise, and that’s rather the point. Find it on the second floor of Vivre Langsuan, on the leafy soi linking Ploenchit Road with Lumpini Park, behind a light timber door set against clean white walls. Photograph: Sushi KuuyaBangkok Photograph: Sushi KuuyaBangkok The man in charge is chef Goji Kobayashi. He was born in Los Angeles to a family from Fukuoka, and his CV covers around 18 years in kitchens across Japan, the US and Thailand, including a stint at Michelin-starred Wako in San Francisco. Kyushu remains his main reference. Most of the seafood and produce arrives from Fukuoka via suppliers he knows personally, and the menu shifts with Japan’s seasons. Photograph: Sushi KuuyaBangkok The restaurant’s motto is ‘Simplicity, Precision, Respect’, and you can watch each word at work. Simplicity is the room, bright and uncluttered, with bare wood and nothing to distract you. Precision begins with that rice, prepared in a traditional hagama pot on a custom-built stove, then seasoned with a blend of vinegars, aged red among them. Respect shows in the sourcing. Goji wants to know where each ingredient originates and who caught, grew or made it. Don’t expect a straight run of nigiri, either. Having worked alongside kaiseki-trained chefs, he opens with otsumami (seasonal appetizers) and a few cooked plates, so the meal moves between warm and cool, soft and crisp. Photogra

Scroll through Thai social media this week and you’ll probably spot a national ID card that looks a little different. The newest hotspot is the registration office at Phitsanulok Municipality. Locals now queue up there in full traditional Thai dress to apply for or renew their IDs. Photograph: Phitsanulok City MunicipalityBangkok Wait, is that even allowed? Yep. Ministry of Interior rules permit traditional attire, contemporary Thai-style looks and clothes made from Thai fabric. The only catch is that your face stays fully visible, so no hats, sunglasses or anything covering it, and you need to look neat and appropriate. Photograph: Phitsanulok City MunicipalityBangkok If this rings a bell, you’ve got a good memory. Back in 2018, the hit period drama Love Destiny had fans asking to pose in Ayutthaya-era costume, and officials gave it the green light. This time the trend comes as Thailand pushes for chut thai to join UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list. Fancy trying it next time your card expires? Raid your mum’s wardrobe, or shop these Thai labels reworking traditional fabrics for everyday wear.

Bangkok’s parks get a few gigs every cool season, but few come with a headliner this good. On November 28, British acid jazz veterans Incognito play the amphitheatre in Benchakitti Park, with much-loved Thai singer Neung ETC. joining them on the bill. The show is how MedPark Hospital marks its sixth birthday, and it puts it on with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. Now in its fifth year, MedMusic in the Park rests on one simple idea, that live music is good for your health. After a week stuck in Sukhumvit traffic, we’re not about to argue. Photograph: MedPark HospitalBangkok Anyone raised on ’90s soul and jazz-funk knows Incognito. Bandleader Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick formed the group in London in 1979, and their run of UK hits includes ‘Always There’ and a slick take on Stevie Wonder’s ‘Don’t You Worry ’Bout a Thing’. Live, they bring a full horn section, busy basslines and a rotating cast of big-voiced singers, so staying seated on your picnic mat is harder than it sounds. Neung, frontman of Thai band ETC., gives the home crowd plenty to sing along to. His smooth mix of Thai pop, soul and R&B suits a balmy night outside. Photograph: MedPark HospitalBangkok Gates open at 4pm, so turn up early and claim a spot on the amphitheatre steps. The first act starts at 5pm, around the time joggers on the elevated skywalk slow to a stroll and cyclists loop Lake Ratchada one last time. By 6pm the sun is down, and late November nights usually hover around 25C, which is about a

Demon wings on a weeknight. Pigs in blankets in shorts weather. Free-flow Champagne 32 storeys above the traffic on Ratchadamri Road. That’s roughly the next 10 weeks at Moxy Bangkok Ratchaprasong, the hotel stacked on top of The Market Bangkok and linked to Chit Lom BTS by skywalk. Plan ahead and it’s cheaper, too. Photograph: Moxy Bangkok RatchaprasongBangkok Halloween runs October 22-31. On the ninth floor, the Moxy Truck swaps its usual street food for blackout calamari, bloodbath nachos and zombie-brain panna cotta. Sato San Rooftop Bar goes for Japanese yokai folklore, with nekomata gyoza, takoyaki and cocktails named after the fox spirit and the spider woman. Nab a seat at the long counter facing the city. Photograph: Moxy Bangkok RatchaprasongBangkok Then ghouls give way to gravy. The truck serves loaded fries with pulled turkey and cranberry, the kitchen sends out sticky toffee pudding and the roof hosts festive dinners on December 24 and 25. The real draw comes at the end of the month, when the CentralWorld countdown crowds fill the junction below. Downstairs at Moxy Bar & Restaurant, B6,000++ buys a buffet of smoked brisket, Thai seafood barbecue and tandoori from 7pm (kids six and under don’t pay). Upstairs, the B9,500++ pass gets you in from 10.30pm with bottomless booze until 1am, while a VIP zone for 12 costs a cool B250,000++. Now, the useful bit. Book a Christmas or New Year’s Eve package directly by November 30 and you knock 15 percent off. Payment is up

Muggles, this one’s for you. If you still half-expect an owl at the letterbox every September, or you can sort your mates by house faster than you can remember their birthdays, clear some space in the diary. A replica of the Great Hall from Hogwarts takes over Central Park this November, and it arrives in full festive mode. Running November 1-15 in The Sky Hall on the first floor, the pop-up rebuilds the dining room where Harry first sat under the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Anyone who queued outside a bookshop at midnight for the next instalment knows exactly why that scene matters. Christmas decorations dress the space for the season, and a handful of photo spots copy other interiors from the school. For the group shot, a dedicated photobooth zone does the job (house scarves optional, though encouraged). Then comes the shopping. More than 15 well-known brands bring their wizarding merch together in one place, so collectors can work through a wishlist in a single afternoon instead of trawling half the malls in town. It also sorts out presents for the Potterhead in your life, and spending over a set amount earns you an exclusive gift to take home. Ten points to whoever came up with this one. The Hogwarts-inspired Great Hall runs Nov 1-15 at The Sky Hall, first floor, Central Park.

Five and a half hours by road from Chiang Mai, then another two or three bumping along dirt tracks through the mountains. No electricity, no running water and not one bar of phone signal. That’s the trip to Pasemuta, a small village in Mae Tuen, and the beans grown up here end up in flat whites some 1,000km south on Koh Phangan. Photograph: Bubba’s Coffee RoastersKoh Phangan Photograph: Bubba’s Coffee RoastersKoh Phangan Robin Vos, founder of Bubba’s Coffee Roasters, Koh Phangan, heads north to see his growers every year. He meets farmer Chang Plao in 2016 at the Farmer Village section of Bangkok’s Thailand Coffee Festival, where producers pour samples of their own harvest. Chang Plao is there with his wife and daughter, dressed in traditional clothing. ‘He was incredibly kind, and the coffee was very flavourful,’ says Robin. The pair keep in touch until Chang Plao invites him up to see the farm. Photograph: Bubba’s Coffee RoastersKoh Phangan Phuket locals know how it goes when an island gets reduced to one nightlife strip. Koh Phangan has the same problem with the Full Moon Party. Spend a morning here, though, and you meet yoga teachers, divers, DJs, long-term expats and Thai families grabbing breakfast before work. Plenty of them start the day at Bubba’s. Photograph: Bubba’s Coffee RoastersKoh Phangan Robin first visits the island in 2006, aged 15, on holiday with his parents. At 21 he moves to Melbourne and takes a job in coffee, picking up the city’s brunch habit.

Lately, our life revolves around one thing – buying concert tickets. Saying we book them every weekend is honestly not an exaggeration. Another dream comes true this autumn though, and this one's been a long time coming. We're finally watching Interstellar with a live orchestra performance by the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. Interstellar Live returns Christopher Nolan's Academy Award-winning epic to the big screen, scored live by Hans Zimmer's masterpiece, the soundtrack Zimmer himself calls the best work of his career. Martin Gellner conducts, organist Charles Andrews takes the keys, and the full 170-minute theatrical cut plays out while every note happens in the room with you. The organ alone runs through your chest. Nolan makes something rare here. Released in 2014, the film is action-packed and poetic, an epic the press ranks among the finest of the early 21st century. Audiences haven't stopped agreeing. It lands on countless best-of lists, takes a Top 10 spot for its year and picks up five Academy Award nominations, including Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design and Best Original Score. We already know how this goes. The seats fill, the lights drop, someone near you sniffles through the docking scene and nobody judges them for it. No headphones, no pause button, just Zimmer's score filling the hall and Matthew McConaughey ageing decades in seconds. If you haven’t been yet, UOB LIVE is on the sixth floor of EmSphere, the newest of the three Em District malls o

Last year, Viharn put a live band inside a crematorium in Sam Chuk, a quiet Suphan Buri district better known for its century-old riverside market. It caused a stir, and plenty of us came away with awkward questions about ritual, belief and what actually happens when we die. For 2026, the experimental art and music event moves to the city. Its new home is the fourth floor of 1981 Soul & Sold, which used to be The Mall Ramkhamhaeng and reopened in July as a vintage and thrift hub. Religious ceremony takes a back seat this time. The theme is Last Breath & Anatomy, a study of the body and its final exhale, staged in a dim, red-lit lab. The idea is simple enough. Each set’s BPM steers your breathing, which in turn shapes how you take in your surroundings. Photograph: SundanBangkok The talking point is the design by Pantang Artwork, whose team works with real Buddhist urns holding cremated remains. Yes, actual ashes. Visuals that react to the sound waves of each performance sit alongside them, so the room shifts from one act to the next. You don’t have to wait for the main night, either. Daeng Raem Kham (Red at Dusk), an exhibition running for nine days and nine nights, takes over the first-floor Camp Ground October 26-November 3. Then on October 31 – a Saturday and, fittingly, Halloween – the doors upstairs open. Seven stages share a lineup of Juna Mae, Faustus, Makara, Not Where But When feat. Ann Shadow Colonies, Dsl33p feat. Wan Pree, Pradit Seangkrai, 6V6T6R and special gue

If you watched the Thai dub of Frozen 2, you’ve already heard RADA sing. She voiced young Anna. Today the 15-year-old is main vocalist in A2O LITE, a nine-member girl group from A2O Entertainment, the label run by SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man. She’s also its sole Thai member. Photograph: A2O LITERADA A2O LITE waste no time. Their single ‘NEON’ reaches the top of Melon’s Top 100 just 29 hours after its October 13 release, the fastest climb for a rookie act since the chart’s 2021 revamp. It also hits number one on Bugs. Not bad for a line-up with an average age of 15. None of this comes out of nowhere. RADA began singing lessons at four, plays piano and, aged ten, won the Young Singers classical category at the American Protégé International Vocal Competition, earning a spot at the winners’ recital in Carnegie Hall. Photograph: A2O LITEALURE ALURE’s story sounds familiar. Born Issara Chaisiri in 2011, he played Song in the 2023 film Bad Boyz Band, voiced little Antonio in the Thai version of Encanto and sang in stage musicals such as Si Phaendin. Now he’s the only Thai face in A2O SOUL, a 15-member boy band sharing a sci-fi backstory with A2O LITE. The two groups shared the stage at a joint showcase in Goyang, just outside Seoul, on October 12. A2O SOUL released ‘SUPERSTAR’ the next day, and by October 15 the boys were performing it on Mnet’s M Countdown. Two teens from Thailand, two new groups, one very good week.  

If your diary is still empty from Friday to Sunday, November 27–29, we've got a plan for you. Head to Ari, the neighbourhood where stylish cafés, restaurants with long queues and makers from all walks of life share the same handful of sois, for Think Fest 2026. Photograph: thinkfest.officialBangkok Now in its second edition, the festival runs on a format the organisers call creative hopping. Instead of one big venue, the programme is spread across more than 40 spots, and you wander between them at your own pace. Catch a talk in one alley, a workshop in another and a flea market around the corner. This time it covers five lanes: Ari Soi 1, 2 and 3, plus Soi 4 North and Soi 5 South. Expect art installations, book clubs, hands-on classes and stalls with everything from fashion to food. A few secret parties are tucked away along the route as well, so it pays to poke your head round a few doors. The theme is 'Remember Me'. Ari is best known as a hangout for twentysomethings with a laptop and a matcha habit. The festival asks you to look back on the good times you've had here, then see the area afresh as somewhere to pick up new ideas and skills any day of the week. Photograph: thinkfest.officialBangkok Media company BrandThink launched the event in May under the banner 'Everybody Changes'. That debut focused on what success looks like in the age of AI, with collaborators such as the music labels Loveis Entertainment and What The Duck and the prop and art studio Pantang Artwork

Maybe you first heard ‘The Blower’s Daughter’ as Natalie Portman crossed a London street in Closer. Maybe ‘Cannonball’ came on a mate’s burnt CD, or ‘Cold Water’ got you through a rough breakup. However it found you, Damien Rice’s debut album O turns 25 in early 2027, and he marks the occasion with a Bangkok show on February 20. O very nearly didn’t happen. In 1998, Rice quit his band Juniper and the record deal that came with it. He spent time in Tuscany, then busked around Europe before returning to Ireland the following year with a batch of new material. He wrote, recorded and produced the album himself, mostly at home, with Lisa Hannigan’s vocals on ‘Volcano’ and ‘I Remember’. When it came out in 2002, he figured it might be his first and last. Bangkok is one of 25 cities on his anniversary world tour, which focuses on those early songs. If his last visit is anything to go by, expect a stripped-back night. At Union Hall in June 2023, his first Bangkok gig in seven years, he admitted he had no setlist. He sat on the floor at one point and asked the seated crowd to stand and move closer to the stage. By the closing number, the whole room sang along. This time, he plays KBank SiamPic Hall on the seventh floor of Siam Square One, a short walk from Siam BTS. General sale opens on October 23, so set a reminder. And pack tissues. Nobody gets through ‘Amie’ dry-eyed. Damien Rice’s O 25th Anniversary Tour comes to KBank SiamPic Hall, Siam Square One, on Sat Feb 20 2027. Tickets co